Instruments are important for the production of Greek folk music. Five important instruments of the Greek culture include: the Pontic lyra, zournas, the daouli, the klarino, and the tsabouna. The Pontic lyra is a three-stringed instrument. It is tuned to the player's desire, and it is able to be played while dancing. Zournas are the Greek version of the oboe. It has a Turkish origin and also has a reed like the European oboe. The zourna is made out of wood and has a total of eight or more holes. The third instrument that I will discuss is the daouli. The daouli is a drum and mostly keeps the beat. The beat is played on the right side of the drum which has a lower pitch when compared to the left side which has a higher pitch. The skin of the drum can be either wolf or goatskin. The klarino is the Greek version of the clarinet. It also has many keys like the European clarinet, and it mostly plays the lead. The tsabouna is a bagpipe. It has two pipes that are played simultaneously. These two pipes are not in tune with one another. It helps to create the desired sound.
I chose this video to represent how the daouli is important not only in the music but also in the dance of the culture.
This man will show how the zourna is held while being performed. You can hear the Turkish influence in the sound of this instrument.
I liked this video because it represents the abilities of the Pontic lyra. The embellishments help the instrument sound prettier in my opinion. Also, the position at which the instrument is being played is different from the Thracian lyra because the Pontic lyra is not vertical on the legs.
The klarino has a very distinctive sound, and the man playing in this video truly shows that he enjoys playing it.
The tsabouna is a larger instrument. It almost looks too big for the man playing it in this video.
Hoerburger,
Felix. "Oriental Elements in the Folk Dance and Folk Dance Music of Greek
Macedonia." Journal of the International Folk
Music Council 19 (1967): 71-75.
Music has been an important part of
Bulgarian culture for as long as it has existed. Before World War I, their
music was tied to the changing of the seasons and the rhythm of work. They had
many different types of music for different times of the year, and also
believed that singing loudly would change the seasons. One type of music was the
Koleda, which is what we understand as Christmas caroling. Kukerovden was a
form of celebration for the changing of the seasons into spring. Easter Dances
were performed at 3-day long festivals called Velikden, and were huge
celebrations for entire villages. In the summer, the women would sing harvest
songs or “zhutvarski pensi”. The subject matter of these songs were singing
about going out into the fields, the hot summer sun the cool evening breeze,
and going home from the fields. After the harvest was gathered and stored, the
women would gather in homes to make clothes, socialize, and sing. This was also
an opportunity for young men to begin courting. They would join the women and
sing and dance with the young ladies in their village in whom they were interested.
After the Communist Party took over in
1944, music in Bulgaria began changing. Traditional Folk music was frowned upon
as being a thing of the past, but at the same time, the government liked the
idea of rural music being a model for the bright, happy, and prosperous world
that could never be achieved in reality. The government commissioned Phillip
Koutev to create a State Ensemble of Folk Song and Dance. He got women from
different villages and traditions and had them learn a type of “traditional”
music that was accepted by the government. This eventually traveled around the
globe.
Here is one of
Phillip Koutev’s most famous songs, “Polegnala e Todora”.
As the style of
music began evolving, composers used Koutev’s basic techniques, but began to
change from consonance to dissonance. Eventually “Le Mysterie de Voix Bulgares”
(The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices) came into the picture. This group is world
famous and has toured around the globe. Here they are performing on an American
talk show.
“Le Mysterie de
Voix Bulgares” also goes by the name “The Great Voices of Bulgaria Women’s
Choir”, and is a successor of The Women’s Choir of Sofia. Here they are singing
“Pilence Pee”, a very famous Bulgarian folksong.
Modern choirs
still have that mysterious voice, and there are schools in Bulgaria that
specialize in this type of singing.
Many people are
mesmerized by the sound of the Bulgarian choir and voice. Here is Dessi Stefanova giving
an interview on how the sound is achieved.
Bulgarians try to imitate nature when they are singing, and value a sound coming from the "chest" register, where in the Western world we aim to sing in the more "pretty" "head voice" register. This goes to show that there is no "right" way to sing; different cultures appreciate different types of singing and music in general, and that's what makes music so beautiful.
Sources:
123.BG Ltd., Www.123.bg, 359 88 7565-414 Tel./fax: 359 2 8437521. "The Great Voices of Bulgaria." Women's Choir. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.
Buchanan, Donna A. "Review Essay: Bulgaria's Magical Mystère Tour: Postmodernism, World Music Marketing, and Political Change in Eastern Europe." Ethnomusicology 41.1 (1997): 131-57. Web.
Rice, Timothy. Music in Bulgaria: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
"Testimonial - The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices." The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.
Webster, Jamie Lynn. "The Mysterious Voice! American Women Singing Bulgarian Songs." The Anthropology of East Europe Review 22.1 (2004): 155-67. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
The oud is a stringed instrument that is most used commonly in the Arabic, Turkish, and Middle Eastern musical traditions. The instrument consists of a wooden body and acoustic sound chamber (Usually pear shaped), and 11 or 12 strings arranged into 6 courses. Each of the 6 courses contains 2 strings, usually tuned an octave apart from each other. Many ouds have only one sting on the top course which is used to accentuate passages by placing a low “Tonic” pitch during rests.
The oud is thought to be one of the many ancestors of the modern guitar, the other major one being the European lute. The oud differs from the lute and the guitar due to the much shorter and thinner neck, and the lack of a fretted neck. This lack of frets allows the oud to be easily played in any given makam, which will often consist of semitones that are difficult to reach on a fretted instrument.
The first video clip I found consists of a fairly traditional oud solo. The performance begins with the player performing an un-metered virtuosic solo on the instrument. Not that he is using the instrument mostly to play single notes in fast sequences, rather than playing chords (He begins to use chords more after being joined by a drummer).
Here we see a more modern interpretation of oud performing. This video is particularly interesting because you can easily see how the instrument is plucked. This video is also a good example of the top course being used to produce a drone throughout the performance.
This video is an oud piece being accompanied by a middle eastern orchestral group. This is also one of the only videos I found where the performer sings while playing the instrument.
This video shows the oud in more of a background role. The performer is mostly strumming chords and playing counter-meoldies, only occasionally taking the lead role.
My final video is simply a guitar solo performed on the 12 stringed guitar. You can note the similarities in playing styles: Low droning notes underneath higher notes moving more quickly. You can clearly see the impact that the oud has made on modern stringed instruments.
EDIT: This video popped up in my "Recommended for you" section on YouTube this morning. It's kind of the coolest thing that I've ever seen. (Features many instruments we've talked about in class).
This intrument is more or less a traditional tambourine that originated in turkish and arabic roots. It is made from a wooden frame which is usually around nine inches in diameter, and uses either goat or fish skin for the drum head. There are also five sets of jingles made from some metal for the desired effect. These instruments are typically played in Takht ensembles and serve the role of primary time keeper.
The following is a great example of how the riq fits into the ensemble:
Aside from the riq player being the time keeper of the group, he/she also has an astounding amount of tonal flexibility with the instrument and can shine through the ensemble and take improvised solos when necessary. The number of techniques that can be applied is just incredible.
This video is a solo riq performance that i think shows the range of the instrument very well:
This next performance shows a bit of the folk side of the music and style. The drum of course is traditionally performed in a full ensemble but is often paired with only one or two other instruments in a much less formal way. In this case there only an oud and riq player.
Now on to actually playing the instrument. Like a lot of traditional drums across the world, the riq uses a vocal system to learn how to play the instrument. These vocalizations each represent a different strike on the drum. The "Doum" stroke is played towards the edge of the drum with the pointer finger and has a very full tone. The "tak" stroke is played by rotating the hand and playing the edge of the head with your ring finger and is supposed to have a higher tone. The "Pa" stoke is played with all four fingers striking and dampening the drum near the center of the head. The most interesting though is the "Tek" stroke which is played with the ring finger on the jingles themselves. Different cultures do use different syllables to notate the strokes but every student must learn to say the rhythms that they play before they even attempt them on the instrument.
The following video is an incredible performance of a player performing this tradition even though she uses a different set of words:
The last example I found is my favorite solo performance. It definitely doesn't follow the traditional techniques I mentioned before but rather highlights many "new-school" approaches to the instrument. Things like rolling the jingles, scratching the head and thumb rolls. All in all, its just a cool performance.
The Jali, or Griot, are from the musical cast of the Mande People, of West Africa. Jali are responsible for being a historian, storyteller, praise singer, as well as a musician. By keeping the oral traditions of the Mande people alive, Jali are often seen as a societal leader. Historically the Jali would be at his King's side at all times, similar to the position of a french troubadour. Depending on his family tree a Jali can be seen playing any one of three instruments. The balafon, the Kora, or the Ngoni, all of which are hand made by the Jali and mastered in playing during their apprenticeship. Jali can be male or female, the male sing and can play any one of the three tradition instruments, while females traditionally only sing. More recently the barrier between men and women has become less prominent and more women are learning Jali instruments.
A Jali explaining the story telling tradition of the Mande people.
Here, Jali Fily Cissokho playing the Kora, is openning a concert with a traditional blessing, during the first European performance of A Curva Da Cintura.
A Griot teaching his son to play Kora. Signing the vocal accompaniment while his son plays the instrumental accompaniment on the Kora.
Female Jali singing the story of Caoumbody, with no instrumental accompaniment. Notice the call and response between the women on the far left and the other three women to the right, as well as the rhythmic support created by the women clapping.
Jali may show up to weddings invited or not. It is common for a Jali to show up and play at a wedding without being asked. The Jali will play and sing and per tradition people will give him small donations.
Mandinka drumming is primarily found in the African country of Gambia. Drummers who play Mandinka drums are part of a drumming troop. These drummers are usually young men. They learn their practice by apprenticing underneath another Mandinka drummer. Therefore, the only ones able to play drums must a professional at their craft. Jali is the name for musicians of the rest of Africa. Mandinka drummers are not Jali's because their jobs in society revolve mainly around entertainment. Jali's are known for their courtly, aristocracy, and historic entertainment: on the other hand, Mandinka drummers are primarily focused on seeing the society is thoroughly entertained. Another difference between Jali's and Mandinka drummers is their view on drumming as a whole. As the name implies, Mandinka drummers believe that the tradition of apprenticeship of other Mandinka drummers is highly important in becoming a skilled drummer. However, Jali's believe that drumming is "a somewhat frivolous or undignified
occupation" (Knight 27). Another interesting fact about about Mandinka drummers is that they are constantly traveling. They travel from city to city to entertain the society that comes in contact with them. Furthermore, Mandinka drummers have a very interesting style of drumming. Everywhere you go in Gambia there are different cultures. It is very visible when you try to distinguish between tribes. "Every tribe have moor then three rhythms and all this rhythms have there own dancing and singing" (Njai).
Mandinka drummers have 3 different size drums. There are two small drums that play the simplest patterns and one large drum that is played by the leader of the troupe. Kutiriba and Kutrindingo are the two small drums. They are generally given to beginning Mandinka drummers because they have the simplest patterns. Saboro is the name of the larger drum played by the most experienced drummer. To play these drums the drummers use a system where the left hand beats the drum while the right hand uses a stick. There are four main ways of drumming and they are given a word to indicate what it means. Kun means an open strike with the hand; this makes a resonating sound. Ba means the fingers of the left hand beat the drum; this makes a damped sound. Din means the right hand strikes the drum with a stick making a resonating sound. While Da does mean the right strikes the drum just as a Din would, but Da makes a dampened sound.
This is a video showing the use of two Kutiribas. You may notice their resemblance to a djembe.
Here is an example of a larger troupe playing. Take note of the whistle blower and how his drum differs from everyone else's. Singing and drumming are involved as well.
This is an illustration of traditional singing and dancing to Mandinka drumming.
A fantastic performance that shows of the technical aspects of Mandinka drumming, this is.
Lastly, a great example showing off the right hand with the stick and left hand with the hand drumming that is typical of all Mandinka drummers.
The Blues is a genre of music that came out of African Americans communities in the Mississippi Delta just upriver from New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. It is generally accepted that this musical form was derived from African spirituals, African chants, work songs, revivalist hymns, and country dance music. The form of the blues has not changed that much from its beginnings with the most common form being a 12 bar phrase that goes I, (I or IV), I, I7,IV,IV,I,I7,(V or IV) I,(I orIV). If you listening to the blues that has lyrics then they most likely are about a person's hardships and personal life reflection. If there are no words then the person's reflection happens in the musicians solo. The soloist will play over the 12 bar phrase, and they can play as many times thought the changes as they want. Most of the time the soloist plays the 12 phase two times. Just like in Jazz music when you play the blues you will improvise a solo. The size of most blues groups are three to five people and that is it. The instrumentation of most groups are a vocalists, guitarist, bass player, drummer, and lead trumpet and or saxophonist. The group can also be as small as just one person playing the guitar and sing the verses.
This first song is I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Muddy Waters one of the greatest blues musicians to ever live. This is a perfect example of what the blues truly is.
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter. This is his song Stormy Monday.
This is BB Kings Paying The Cost To Be The Boss. These is a big band style of the blues.
The four song is just a man and his guitar. This Is Me and The Devil Blues by Robert Johnson.
The last song on the list is Miles Davis song So What. This is just a instrumentalist tune with the great Miles Davis on trumpet and Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone.
Since the introduction of jazz in the
early 20th century, it has continuously changed to match the
creativity of its artists and social wants. Due to its improvisatory nature and
roots in minorities, it is difficult to know its exact origin, but it is
believed to have stemmed from west African music traditions. Bebop jazz was introduced
in the mid to late 40’s. In Scott DeVcaux’s article The Birth of BeBop he writes that bebop was a “revolution in which
the American jazz musician turned from being an entertainer, such as Louis
Armstrong or Cab Calloway were in the 1930s, to becoming an avant-garde artist”.
Those that are credited with its founding are Charlie “Yardbird” Parker, Dizzy
Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Characteristics of bebop are a chorus with virtuosic
improvisation over a chord progression. Choruses in jazz were common but what
made bebop stand out was the difficulty of the improvisation. The chord
progression is introduced in the chorus, which was commonly from a precomposed
work, and then improved over. Through the complexity of improvisation, bebop artist
sought the same praise and recognition as western art music musicians. It was a
step towards promoting a tradition and end to racial prejudices over its
artists.
Artists Charlie Parker and Dizzy
Gillespie are recognized for their contributions to music and then play their
hit “Hot House”. “Hot House” was composed by Tadd Dameron over the chord
progression to Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?". The
hit highlights improvisation on alto saxophone and trumpet.
Bud Powell is notable jazz
pianist. He was classically trained but was inspired by Parker and Gillespie. “Un
Poco Loco” was included on the list of the greatest works of twentieth-century
American art.
Thelonius Monk was a jazz pianist
who had a unique playing style known as “rhythmic displacement” that can be
clearly heard in this track.
John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” is
one of the most popular songs from this genre. The chord progressions are very
quick with extremely complex chords. High lights his skill with the tenor
saxophone.
This song, released in 1995, is
based on the bebop traditions.
Sources:
The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge
of Bebop: Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr.
The nay is a reed flute played in the Eastern Arab countries. The sound of the nay is very breathy which is likely to come from the cane being open-ended. It comes in many different sizes which allows for the different pitches. However, in the front of the nay, there are six holes for the player to play with their fingers. One extra hole is located on the bottom for the thumb of the player to stay. Players use both lips to create the sound which is called bilabial blowing. Each microtonal tone is assigned to a hole on the nay. Changes can be made to the tone by changing the hole or blowing differently. Like the flute, the amount of air determines the octave pitch. The more gentle you blow into the orifice, the more soothing the sound will be. The range of the nay is about two octaves. Of all the Arab instruments, the nay is most difficult.
The woman is explaining techniques a person can use to help them learn how to play the nay. She shows you where to place the nay on your mouth.
Mr. Baris is a music teacher at a school in Turkey. He also plays the nay professionally. I find it interesting that this teacher still performs professionally with the nay.
In the following video, a man is demonstrating a cane pole becomes a nay. He first makes the segments then creates the tone-holes. He uses a compass to know the measurements for the holes.
Avi Adir is performing a concert with the nay. Unlike the flute, a performer holds the nay straight in front of them instead of parallel to their face.
I chose this video because I think it exemplifies how the nay can be a calming instrument. The sound of the nay in the video is complimented with the oud to help create a beautiful piece of art.
Church, Michael. The
Other Classical Musics: Fifteen Great Traditions. Woodbridge: Boydell
Press, 2015.
"Arabic Musical Instruments." Arabic Musical
Instruments. July 14, 2007. Accessed September 23, 2016.
http://www.maqamworld.com/instruments.html.
The Balafon is an instrument found in West Africa, found mainly in Guinea. It is categorized as an ideophone, simply meaning it has tonal bars laid across a frame and is struck with mallets. it is believed to be the ancestor of many instruments around the world, including the xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, and marimba. These are both percussive and melodic instruments. The balafon contains 17-21 rectangular slats typically made from bene wood. The slats are carefully dried over a low flame to achieve resonance. The ends of each slat are burned black with an iron to seal them. The instrument builder tunes each slat by shaving the underbelly. They are arranged from low to high (large to small). Two rows of calabashes (a type of gourd) provide natural amplifiers for the balafon. These calabashes are fixed below the slats, also in arrays from large to small.
Here is a video of Paul Nas constructing a balafon.
This is a tutorial on how to play the balafon. The narrator explains how the sound is produced and plays a fun melody.
Dancing is an extremely important part of African culture. Here we see a dance party mainly driven by the music of the balafon. In this video, instead of being held on the shoulders and strapped in the front of the players' bodies, the balafon is horizontal. I think this might make the instrument less portable, but easier to play for longer periods of time.
The person taking this video uploaded it sideways, but this is a fun video of a trio of balafons. It is interesting to hear the sounds of the different balafons-they sound similar, but there are definite distinctions between the sounds. I believe this is a result of the different amplifiers underneath the wooden boards.
This last video is of Bakaly Camara, a professional balafon player from Guinea. Again, the balafon is strapped to him, but he plays with such ease!
A Kora is a twenty one string lute
bridge harp used primarily in West Africa. Made of gourd, leather, and wood, the Kora is one of the more complex string
instruments found in Africa. A large
calabash is cut in half and then covered with cow skin to create a resonator. A long hardwood neck is attached to this resonator. The free standing bridge is
supported by two handles that run under the skin. The earliest documentation of the Kora dates
back to 1799 in Travels in Interior
Districts of Africa, literature by Mungo Park. It is a centuries old tradition and is often
tied to the griots/jali. This instrument was and is used as accompaniment to the jali
storytelling, ceremonies, entertainment, and various other traditions passed
down orally through the generations. The
Kora produces a sound that is most closely aligned with a harp. It ranges over three octaves and allows a
musician to play across all three octaves simultaneously. To play a scale, the player would alternately
pluck the left and right string. This
practice allows for rapid runs that have become an identifying trait of Kora
music. The Kora is tuned to a heptatonic
scale using modes similar to major, minor, and Lydian. Actual pitch centers are tuned according to
the musician’s individual taste.
The Kora is placed vertically
between the legs to support the body of the instrument with the strings facing
the musician. The placement of strings
allows for the playing of chords, harmonies, and fast melodic runs.
Sulayman Jobarteh describes the intricate process in which the Kora is built.
In
this video, Toumani Diabate demonstrates the range of the Kora and the layering
of improvisation over the accompaniment and bass.
Watch these adorable children in the beginning stages of learning the art of playing the Kora. Here they are after their two hour lesson!
Today, the Kora is incorporated into various musical genres including modern jazz. Here is an example of the Kora being used in the Kora Jazz Band.
